How’s your cruise experience?

Why do I ask?

As often as I can I will call my clients on return from their cruise to see how their cruise went and although almost everyone of them will comment that they had a great time and enjoyed their cruise most will also say they have seen a change over the years and almost all the time it is the service that brings a negative comment.

Sometimes the waiter, maybe a little slow or the cabin steward not being so cheerful but it seems to be the bar staff that are not impressing the most. No acknowledgement of the guest, no smile, no chit chat. So why is this?

One of my clients was very happy with his cabin steward and said he would be nominating him for staff of the cruise award, the cabin steward said thanks but don’t bother, ‘it never goes to us’ he said!!

Are the once very cheerful and ‘nothing is too much’ staff now demotivated? From my previous experiences I think things are getting too much for these guys, there certainly seems to be less cabin stewards and the bars seem too busy all the time, is this because the cruise lines have cut back on bar staff too?

I have often voiced my concerns that if cruises are being cut in price too much then the service will suffer but these cruise lines are still spending big money making huge improvements to their ships or having newer and more amazing ships built so perhaps they can afford to cut the prices and not the service.

Cruises is still the biggest growing holiday product in the market with passenger numbers rising year after year so I say cruise lines look after your customer, give them the service they deserve expect and have had in the past and keep the regulars as well as attracting the first timers.

If you look at our review page on cruise.co.uk you’ll see what past passengers have to say about every cruise, cruise ship and cruise company out there. It’s well worth a read.

Let me know what you think to this, do you agree, is the service dropping?